Debt to repay (Jack Lexington)

Joel darts behind people, trees, anything he can find to make sure he isn't spotted. It wouldn't be bad if he was spotted, but he doesn't want these guys to know he's following them. Following people is rude in Joel's mind, yet here he is following them. He's on a mission that involves finding the guy that saved his life. Joel is on a mission to repay the guy. He watches from a distance as they slowly walk through the town. Joel runs down the edge of the old road not wanting to lose focus on them. This might be his only chance of finding him. Most people would think he's crazy for trying this hard to find a guy. Most would tell him not to worry about it, but Joel knows what he's going to do. He's not going to stop searching until he finds him. He keeps up with the guys until he's out of the town.

He stops at the edge of the town wondering how he's going to hide from them now. The occasional tree is up, but the distance between them is greater than he wants them to be. He'll have to hurry if he wants to remain hidden. I could let them see me, and they might give me a ride there, but that probably won't be the best idea. He stops behind the first tree and waits for the guys to get a few feet ahead of the next tree. He keeps himself calm by counting the paces they take. Joel runs from the tree he's behind to the next tree. He snaps a branch in the process. He quickly takes cover behind the tree as the guys turn around. Joel watches them talk among themselves. They shake their heads and continue down the path they are taking.

Phew, that was a close one. Joel thinks to himself as he wipes the sweat from his brow. He peaks his head out from behind the tree and watches them again. He looks up in the sky and notices the clouds starting to cover the sun. The clouds can only mean one thing. Joel is probably going to get wet. It doesn't matter though. The rain could do him some good especially since he's filthy anyway. He shakes his head and focuses on the horses again. They have past the next tree. Joel takes off running as fast as he can and stops behind the tree. He allows himself a moment to catch his breath. His heart starts pounding rapidly under his chest. He fights to stop the memories from racing into his head. He turns around and looks at the guys again. Only this time they've disappeared.

Shit, I've lost them. Joel curses himself. He walks out behind the tree and continues down the old dirt road. He looks around for anything that could possibly lead him in the right direction. His hand throbs in pain from the running, but the pain is tolerable. The pain is nothing compared to what it was like when the bone first broke. A chill runs up his spine causing him to shiver. I never want to feel that pain again. That was terrible. "You're almost there." Joel whispers to himself trying to keep himself going. He really doesn't know how far away he is, but saying this always helped him when he was working on the farm. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens them, he's surprised to what he sees.

Joel slowly walks towards a fenced in area. Horses are inside of it. He gets closer and notices a guy on another horse swinging something over his head. It looks like rope, but Joel can't be sure from where he's standing. He watches the rope as it goes around another horse almost perfectly. That is amazing. I wonder how he did that. He walks closer to the fenced area and notices the guy riding the one horse. It's the guy that Joel fought a few days earlier. Joel's stomach cramps up, and every pain he felt returns. His jaw starts throbbing from being punched in the face. The pain of the broken bone returns to his hand nearly sending Joel to his knees. He looks up at the guy confused. His heart pounds fast under his chest as he forgets what he's going to say. "Hi." He says instead thinking it's a good way of starting a conversation..